*Andrea*
My head was spinning. Who was this Lucas?
Of course, there are many people out there with the same name, so I can’t be sure about this.
But a Lucas that knows me is hard to come by. She must have probably told him about me. I tried to give myself various reasons why this Lucas can’t be the one I know. It has to be someone else.
My head suddenly turned heavy. Alison stepped into the sitting room with a bottle of water.
I raised my eyes to meet hers, “here, drink water.” She dropped on the sofa, “is something wrong?” She asked me to place the bottle on the table since I refused to accept it.
“Lucas, who is he?” I asked.
Her hand, which was on my shoulders, fell to her side, and she quickly picked up her phone.
“You went through my phone?” She asked. “That’s not the question, Alison. Who is this Lucas that is in LA that knows me?”
She sighed, her head falling.
She placed her phone beside her.
“I wanted to tell you, Andrea. I have been waiting for the right opportunity to tell you.” Deep breath.
“We are together.” She paused and studied my features, “he is Lucas, your ex,” my eyes widened.
“This is a joke, right?” I asked. “No.” She grabbed my hands. “I didn’t know how you’d react. I was scared you’d get angry and refuse to speak to me. That was why I didn’t tell you,” she said.
“How about the chef? You were in love with him. I saw your Instagram post; you guys looked good together.” Yes, I was mad at her.
But it wasn’t because she was dating my ex. It was because she had kept it away from me. It made me feel that she didn’t trust me enough to tell me.
“We broke up.” I wanted to ask why she broke up with him. They looked perfect. Did they fall out of love?
“I didn’t think I’d fall for Lucas; I swear I tried to push him away. I tried to make this feeling disappear, but no matter what I did. I just couldn’t hide the feelings for long,” She said.
I removed my hands from hers and held hers. Her head was down, her hair covering her face. “Look at me,” she shook her head, “I can’t face you,”
“Alison,” we have never had fought. True, we had disagreements sometimes, but she was my friend.
“I’ve done you wrong. This is wrong. I value our friendship, and I don’t want to lose it.” She raised her head, her eyes glistened with tears, “if it will make you feel better that I end my relationship with him, then I will,” She said.
“No, why would you do such a thing?” I inhaled sharply, moving closer to her.
This was the same thing that happened between me and Alejandro.
I was his son’s ex, and we thought that was enough reason to keep us apart, but it just wasn’t.
After all these years, our feelings for each other remain as strong as ever. We’ve not stopped loving each other.
No one can stop these feelings from growing in our hearts, not even us, “see, I have no problems with you. You don’t have to end your relationship with Lucas because of me. I am not against your relationship,” I wiped the tears that fell on her cheeks with my thumb.
“I am not mad at you for dating Lucas. I am way over him and have no right to decide who he goes out with. I am only mad at you because you tried to keep it away from me. It proves you don’t trust me enough, which breaks my heart.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to keep it away from you,” She said.
I hugged her, “As long as he loves you the way you love him, as long as he takes care of you and never cheats on you, then you have my blessing and approval. I’ll never be the one to come between the both of you.” I held her close, and she sobbed on me
“Thank you, Andrea,” She said.
We pulled away from each other.
“But if he dares hurt you, I’ll rip him to pieces,” she chuckled slightly at my expression.
I picked up the bottle of water on the table and handed it over to her. She needed it more than me.
“Why did you break up with the chef?” I asked. She uncapped the bottle and took gulps.
“Well, you do have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” I wasn’t going to force her to tell me things she didn’t want to say.
“He cheated on me.” She paused and continued, “With a man,”
What?
“That fucking bastard.” I stood.
I was furious. “He’s gay, and he doesn’t like girls; I was just for show. He feared being gay would ruin his career, so he took me around in public. I never suspected a thing. It hurt so much when I found out that I had to drink myself away in a club.”
I sat and pulled her closer to myself.
I could only imagine the way she was feeling right now.
“I am so sorry; no one deserves to experience anything like that,” I said.
She shook my hand, and after another session of crying and me patting her, we pulled away, “that was when I met him. I was so drunk that I didn’t know what I was doing. Some guys tried to molest me, and while I was trying to pull them off me, I got stabbed.”
Her eyes suddenly brightened.
“I would have bled to death if Lucas had not shown up at that moment and saved me. I owe him my life.” She said.
“I didn’t know Lucas could be so kind,” I added. She smiled for the first time since we started the conversation.
“He took me to the hospital and visited often. After I was discharged, he would always visit me. The visits ended when he left, but the calls and texts persisted.
So when he asked me out, I couldn’t say no. I didn’t realize I had fallen for him. He took me out on dates when he was in my city. I had refused when he first asked me out, but he persisted. He would not stop, and I couldn’t hide my feelings for long anymore, so I accepted.”
It was such a touching story.
“It seems Lucas likes you,” she blushed.
“He has changed. He is not the same immature boy anymore. He is now a man.” She said
“Alejandro said the same thing.”
“I wish you the best. I’ll always have your best interest at heart, so if he is the man that gives you all the love and joy you want, I am in support.”
She smiled, “I know, that’s what friends are for.”
“And I think Alejandro would be happy. Does he know?”
“No. No one knows about us yet.”
The conversation shifted from various topics afterwards.
“Have you told Austin about Alejandro?” I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, my mind drifting back to the conversation I had with Alejandro.
“Not yet.”
.
.
.
*Alejandro’s POV*
I drove aimlessly around the city. After I left Andreas’s home, I drove straight to a lawyer I have here. He has prepared the divorce papers and everything. I signed it there.
All that was left was for Nora to sign it, too, and we could both go our separate ways.
Andrea loved me, too. I am sure of it. I would not allow Nora to come between us, not again.
When I got home, Nora was seated in the sitting room watching her favorite show. I think it was high time I sent her away for good.
I clenched the brown papers, which contained the divorce papers.
“You are back.” She leapt out of the chair. “I’ve missed you.” She tried to hug me, but I pushed her away slightly. She stepped back.
“I made sure your room was always kept clean and tidy. I knew you’d come back. Even if you are angry at me, you can’t stay angry forever.”
I walked past her, “where’s Lucas?”
“He is in his room.” She trailed behind me until we got to the stairs, and she stopped.
“Come with me; we need to talk,” I said.
I walked to my study.
I opened it.
“Have a seat,” I said and sat behind the table.
She sat.
“Nora,” “hmmm”
I inhaled sharply. I knew her, she would not take this in well. I have thought of various ways to tell her. She should be understanding.
Marriage is something that involves two people; if one person isn’t enjoying it, then they should end it.
“Do you love me?” I inquired.
“Yes, I do.” She replied with a smile tugging her lips.
I knew that wasn’t true. She doesn’t love me. But if that’s what she claims, then that’s fine. “Well, I don’t love you.” I intend to be intentional and straight to the point.
“You may not love me now, but that’s fine; I believe you will grow to love me.” She replied. I shook my head.
“No, that’s impossible. I will never love you. I think it’s time we put an end to this. We can’t keep doing this. We can’t stop ourselves from living the way we want.” I looked into her eyes as I spoke, not breaking eye contact even once.
“I don’t care. I am satisfied. I don’t care if you don’t love me. It’s okay as long as I am close to you.” She said.
“That’s where you get it wrong, Nora. You can’t be married and selfish.”
One of the greatest forms of love is letting someone go.
“Marriage shouldn’t be one way. It shouldn’t be just you enjoying it. Have you ever thought of me? I feel like I am bonded. Like there are chains all over me, restricting me from living the life I want,” the life with Andrea, the one I truly love.
“We can work on that together. I know a marriage counselor; we can see her. We can see various therapists. We don’t have to put an end to the marriage.”
“I have made the decision already.” I placed the papers on the table. “Let’s go our separate ways. Sign the divorce papers,” I said. A pen was beside the papers which already had my signature.
“You can’t do this,” she said. “What will people say if they find out that we are divorced again? They will criticize us,” she said.
“I don’t care what they say. They are not the ones that will decide for me,” she should know me better.
If the public wants to have a say in my life so much, then they can as well come get married to her in my place.
My lawyer will get in touch with you. Sign the papers.” I said
“No, I won’t.”
“You will,” I said. Her chest rose and fell.
Suddenly, she fell on her knees and crawled towards me.
“Please, Alejandro. Don’t do this to me. I love you. What about Lucas? He will go back to hating you. Don’t you care about your son anymore?”
Lucas was a grown man now. If she thinks she can use him to threaten me, then she has another thought coming.
“Leave Lucas out of this.” I will speak to him personally, and I am sure he would be reasonable.
She tried to hold my legs, but I stopped her.
Tears rolled down her eyes, but I would not be shaken.
She stood, wiped her tears off, and said, “I will think about it. I am not promising to sign it.” She picked up the papers and stormed off.
She has no choice.
As for Lucas, I plan to take him to see Austin tomorrow.
I texted Andrea, “I am bringing Lucas over tomorrow. I hope that’s fine with you.”
It took a while for her to reply, but she finally did, “Yes.”
That’s settled, then.
I left my study and headed to Luca’s room.